Just Out of Reach
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: Ruby tries to help Weiss, who has been cursed with being just over 5 feet tall as an adult, with reaching things.


It was too warm in their living room. Weiss was sitting on the couch, curled up with Ruby and watching a movie. The temperature was already warm, but Ruby's body heat made it that much worse. She was practically sweating, which was well beneath someone of her stature. Of course, she didn't want to stop cuddling with Ruby. Being close to her wife was always a highlight of her day. There was no better way of winding down from the stress of running a large company than by snuggling up with the woman she loved. Still, it _was _really warm...

"Excuse me, Ruby." She wormed her way out of Ruby's arms. "It's a bit warm in here. Let me turn on the fan." She stood up and headed for the middle of the living room, where the fan cord hung just out of reach. Staring up at it, she crossed her arms and frowned. The problem with the house they lived in was that she wasn't tall enough to reach the cords that could turn the fan and the fan lights off and on. Her growth spurt had never come to pass, so while Ruby had put on several inches of height, she remained unfortunately short. That left the cord just out of reach, even if she stuck her arm up as high as it could go.

She considered jumping to reach it, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Ruby. At least, not anymore than her vertically-challenged self was already doing. Besides, someone of her stature shouldn't be jumping to reach anything. That was beneath her, not to mention embarrassing. If she wanted the fan to start cooling her down, then she would need to go grab a chair or something so she could actually reach it.

Her desire to be cooled down won out, and she went into the kitchen to grab a chair. As she was coming back, dragging the chair along with her, she was embarrassed to see Ruby watching her with noticeable mirth in her eyes. She was trying not to laugh at her, but she wasn't doing a good job of hiding it. Weiss just scowled as she set the chair beneath the fan, standing on top of it so she could grab the cord and turn the fan on.

"Wow Weiss," Ruby remarked, lounging on the couch with a stupid little grin on her face. "Don't worry, baby. You're going to be super tall any day now."

"Do not speak to me right now," Weiss responded in annoyance, stepping down from the chair and dragging it back to the kitchen. She returned with a permanent frown on her face, sitting back down on the couch with a 'hmpf' and crossed arms. Her position was now deliberately away from Ruby. Even though she wanted to return to her cuddle buddy, she had to make a point: Ruby would get no cuddles until she apologized.

"Aww, c'mon Weiss, I'm sorry." She sidled up next to Weiss, trying to get her back in a cuddling mood. Weiss, however, refused to budge. "It's just a _little_ funny that you're still pretty short, don't you think?"

"Not in the slightest," Weiss huffed. Being short had way too many detriments for her to consider it 'funny'. There were people who didn't give her proper respect because they thought she was younger than she actually was. Not being able to reach the fan cord or the top shelves in the kitchen was aggravating. Grabbing a chair to reach those things was demoralizing. Having to ask her wife to reach things for her was even worse. On top of that, if she had to listen to Yang's 'How the weather down there?' jokes one more time, she was going to need another metal arm.

"At least it gives me something to do." Ruby stretched out her arms, grinning. "I'm your designated object reacher! Whenever you need something, I'm there to grab it for you!" She gave Weiss a thumbs up, grinning her goofy grin that almost never failed to melt Weiss's heart. However, she was annoyed at the moment, so her heart remained frozen.

"I would prefer to reach things myself." She sighed deeply, slumping down into the couch. When Ruby sidled up to her again to try and get some more cuddling in, she didn't push her away. "Being short is no fun. I _want _to reach these things without climbing onto all of our furniture. I am a strong, independent woman, dammit!" She punched the couch cushions, sighing again. Whose idea was it to give her the short genes in the family?

"Yes you are, sweetie. You're my strong, independent woman." Ruby giggled as she nuzzled Weiss's cheek, which made her think she was being patronized. She just frowned and slapped Ruby on the shoulder, which only got her to giggle more. "Really though, I don't mind reaching stuff for you. I'm your wife, after all! I _like _doing things for you."

"I... appreciate that." Weiss smiled slightly, but it was gone in an instant. "However, I don't like asking you to do all these things for me. It makes me feel like the spoiled rich girl that everyone always thought I was. _I _should be able to do these things on my own, but _someone_ clearly had it out for me." She looked at her legs with disgust. At least they looked good, even if they weren't long enough for her liking.

"The spoiled rich girl is long gone, Weiss. You're the most caring person I know, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Ruby pressed herself as close as she could, peppering her cheeks with kisses. "I love you just as you are, short or tall. You know what they say about good things coming in small packages." Weiss turned to her, eyes narrowed. "Ehehehe... I love you, baby."

"Despite it all, I love you too." She rolled her eyes fondly, deeming Ruby worthy of more cuddles. At least the fan was on, letting her feel the breeze across her body, even as Ruby did her best to warm her up. Still, she just wished that she wasn't so damn short. There were so many things just out of reach that she could grab with a few more inches of height. Having to wear heels around the house was humiliating, and rude to be honest. Maybe if she stretched herself out every night, she would grow a bit... There had to be _some _cases of post-adulthood growth, right?

* * *

"Oh Weisss..." Weiss recognized that tone of voice. It was how Ruby sounded when she had something she wanted to show or tell her. She considered just not turning around and ignoring her, like you were supposed to do with a cat. However, she just couldn't ignore her wife, even when it would have been the best move. So she turned around to find Ruby standing there with her hands behind her back.

"Should I even ask what you're hiding behind your back?"

"Yes please." Ruby giggled and smiled, even when Weiss crossed her arms and refused to ask the obvious question. "Okay, okay, I got something for you!" She moved her arms out from behind her back and stuck them out in front of her, palms open and facing upwards. "Tada!" In her hands, cradled like an important artifact, was a shark head grabber.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing with this?"

"It's for you!" She held it out farther, but Weiss didn't take it. "I know that you want to reach things around the house, and this will help! You can grab them with Mr. Sharky!" She stuck the grabber out and pressed it against Weiss's shoulder, pulling in the trigger and making it grab her shirt. Weiss remained unimpressed.

"First off, unhand me." Ruby did so, giggling awkwardly. "Second, do you really think I would be caught dead using _that_?" She pointed at the grabber, feeling as if she was being toyed with. Ruby really thought that a child's toy would make her feel better about her shortcomings? "Actually there's a third thing: why, dare I ask, is there a shark's head on it?"

"Because it's so cute!" Ruby pulled back the grabber and gently petted the top of the shark's head. "Don't you think so? It's the perfect grabber for my ice shark!" Well, that was a new nickname.

"Ice shark?"

"Because you're cold and you have the bite of a shark to people who dare cross you." Well, that explained it. She couldn't help but roll her eyes again as Ruby kept staring at her with those big, wonderful eyes of hers. If only she could say no to her wife. That was a skill she _used _to have, but it had eroded away the longer they'd gotten to know each other. Now they were married, and saying no was a near-impossibility.

"I'm unsure whether I should be flattered or offended. Possibly both." She sighed deeply, looking at the grabber again. It _was _a little cute, at least, but that didn't mean she wanted to use it. That would take a swallowing of her pride that she was sure that she couldn't do. "While I appreciate the gesture, I would rather not stoop to such levels just to turn on the living room fan."

"Why don't you take it anyway? Just in case." She held it out again, refusing to yield. Of course, as was usually the case, Weiss was the one who gave in, taking the grabber and looking at it disdainfully. There was no way she would ever use this, but it wouldn't hurt to take it. Ruby would just make little jokes and use it to grab her hair or something until she gave in anyway. Might as well nip that in the bud right away. She could just put it in her closet and forget about it.

"Alright, fine. I'll take it." She took it from Ruby's hands, trying her best to look grateful. It didn't work. "Thank you, Ruby. I... suppose, anyway."

"You're welcome!" Ruby gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then left the grabber in Weiss's possession. True to her word, Weiss hid it in her closet the moment Ruby wasn't looking. While she appreciated the gesture in some way, she also felt like she was above using such things. She should've already been tall enough to reach everything, and the fact that she couldn't was the world's fault, not her own.

For a few days, she kept the grabber in the closet, refusing to even acknowledge it. One day, however, she found herself alone in the living room and in need of the fan's cooling breeze. Ruby was taking a nap in their bedroom, so it was up to her to turn the fan on. Looking up at her predicament, she was reminded of the grabber. There was no way she would use it, right? However... Ruby _had _bought it for her, and it _was _easier to carry than trying to drag around chairs or jumping up to reach the cord. She was always afraid that she'd accidentally tear the whole fan down doing that.

Though she knew that she'd feel silly doing it, she went into her closet and dug up the grabber. Being as quiet as she could to avoid waking Ruby up, she returned to the living room. She looked up at the cord, then at the grabber in her hand. It felt like the shark was staring at her and judging her. Okay, now she was being silly. She was letting her pride get the best of her again. What was wrong with using a grabber, anyway? Adults could use them too, right? It wasn't her fault she wasn't as tall as any of her other friends. If she could choose, she'd be six feet tall and asking Yang how the weather was down there. That'd teach her.

She reached up with the grabber and pulled the trigger. The shark's mouth closed down on the cord, gripping it tightly. Pulling down, the fan instantly turned on, bringing a nice, cool breeze to the room. She let go of the trigger and pulled the grabber back down, staring at it with a newfound appreciation. Maybe Ruby had been on to something when she purchased it. Not only had it worked flawlessly, but it was much easier than any of the other ways she had to use to reach those things.

"Hey, you're finally using it!" Weiss nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling around to find Ruby standing there with a big smile on her face. She must have been watching her the whole time. How mortifying...

"You were watching the entire time, weren't you?"

"Yup!" It figures...

"You were sleeping, though." Unlike herself, Ruby was a pretty heavy sleeper. It took more to wake her up than the average person, and she had been careful to be quiet when retrieving the grabber. How in the world had Ruby woken up from that?

"And now I'm awake." Well, _obviously_. "I could feel that something important was happening, and I just couldn't stay asleep any longer." There was no way... Did Ruby have some _other _power that nobody else knew about? That was so unfair if that was the case. How many powers did one woman need?

"Well, you've caught me, then. Let the teasing begin." She slumped forward, preparing herself for the laughter that was sure to commence. Instead, Ruby rushed forward and enveloped her in a tight hug. It was surprising enough that she dropped the grabber, nearly hitting both of their feet. "Ruby? What are you doing?"

"Hugging you!" Either Ruby was Captain Obvious, or she thought Weiss didn't understand normal human interaction. Neither of those were particularly good, but the latter would be specifically offensive. She may have grown up in a completely different world than her friends, but that didn't mean she was _completely _oblivious to societal norms. "I'm just really glad you're using it! You like it, right? Just a little?"

"I... suppose it can be useful." She still wasn't great at admitting her true feelings, though she'd gotten much better at it. At least Ruby could speak her language: she squealed and hugged Weiss tighter, lifting her up in the air. "H-Hey! Put me down, Ruby! Ruby!"

"Hey, maybe you didn't need the grabber after all." Ruby looked up at her with a grin, holding her up with a surprising amount of strength. "I could just lift you up wherever you needed to reach something. That'd be sooo cute, right?!" Weiss glared at her like she was trying to melt her face off with just her eyes. Unfortunately, she didn't have the silver eye power she needed for such a task. "I'm gonna sing The Circle of Life, okay?"

"Don't you _dare_!" Weiss looked as intimidating as she ever had, but Ruby had immunity due to her gleeful stupidity. No matter what she did in that moment, she was powerless to stop the inevitably of Ruby Rose-Schnee. "Ruby, don't-"

"The ciiircle of liiife-"

"Ruby!"


End file.
